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Friday, August 11, 2017

Owner of Home Health Agency Sentenced to 75 Years in Prison for Involvement in $13 Million Medicare Fraud Conspiracy

The owner and director of nursing of a Houston home health
agency was sentenced today to 75 years in prison for her role in a $13 million
Medicare fraud scheme.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the
Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez of
the Southern District of Texas, Special Agent in Charge Perrye K. Turner of the
FBI’s Houston Field Office, Special Agent in Charge C.J. Porter of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG)
Dallas Region and Special Agent in Charge D. Richard Goss of the Houston Field
Office of IRS-Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI) made the announcement.

Marie Neba, 53, of Sugarland, Texas, was sentenced by U.S.
District Judge Melinda Harmon of the Southern District of Texas.In November 2016, Neba was convicted after a
two-week jury trial of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud,
three counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay and receive
health care kickbacks, one count of payment and receipt of health care
kickbacks, one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and one
count of making health care false statements.

According to the evidence presented at trial, from February
2006 through June 2015, Neba and others conspired to defraud Medicare by
submitting over $10 million in false and fraudulent claims for home health
services to Medicare through Fiango Home Healthcare Inc., owned by Neba and her
husband, Ebong Tilong, 53, also of Sugarland, Texas.The trial evidence showed that using the
money that Medicare paid for such fraudulent claims, Neba paid illegal
kickbacks to patient recruiters for referring Medicare beneficiaries to Fiango
for home health services.Neba also paid
illegal kickbacks to Medicare beneficiaries for allowing Fiango to bill
Medicare using beneficiaries’ Medicare information for home health services
that were not medically necessary or not provided, the evidence showed.Neba falsified medical records to make it
appear as though the Medicare beneficiaries qualified for and received home
health services.Neba also attempted to
suborn perjury from a co-defendant in the federal courthouse, the evidence
showed.

According to the evidence presented at trial, from February
2006 to June 2015, Neba received more than $13 million from Medicare for home
health services that were not medically necessary or not provided to Medicare
beneficiaries.

To date, four others have pleaded guilty based on their
roles in the fraudulent scheme at Fiango.Nirmal Mazumdar, M.D., the former medical director of Fiango, pleaded
guilty to a scheme to commit health care fraud for his role at Fiango.Daisy Carter and Connie Ray Island, two patient
recruiters for Fiango, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud
for their roles at Fiango.On August 11,
Island was sentenced to 33 months in prison.Mazumdar and Carter are awaiting sentencing.After the first week of trial, Tilong pleaded
guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, three counts of
healthcare fraud, one count of conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare
kickbacks, three counts of payment and receipt of healthcare kickbacks, and one
count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.Tilong is scheduled to be sentenced on
October 13.

The case was investigated by the IRS-CI, FBI and HHS-OIG
under the supervision of the Fraud Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal
Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of
Texas.The case is being prosecuted by
Trial Attorney William S.W. Chang and Senior Trial Attorney Jonathan T. Baum of
the Fraud Section.

The Fraud Section leads the Medicare Fraud Strike Force,
which is part of a joint initiative between the Department of Justice and HHS
to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current
anti-fraud laws around the country.The
Medicare Fraud Strike Force operates in nine locations nationwide.Since its inception in March 2007, the
Medicare Fraud Strike Force has charged over 3,500 defendants who collectively
have falsely billed the Medicare program for over $12.5 billion.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and
Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.